Skills and Tasks
Hundredfold is a skill-based RPG. Virtually everything people are capable of doing can be done poorly and clumsily, or it can be done competently and gracefully. This is the essence of Skill. A skill is a discrete body of knowledge, set of techniques, or school of conditioning in which a dedicated practitioner can study, train, and improve. Your characters gain experience for using their skills to overcome challenges, which in turn allows them to improve those skills, to grow more powerful, and to deal with greater challenges. The Skill Check Almost anything you can attempt will be handled by a task that calls for at least one skill check. You must be trained (i.e. have at least one upgrade) in a general or specific skill to attempt checks with it. You do not have to be trained to attempt an attribute check. 1d10: Roll a ten-sided die to generate a random number between 1 and 10. If your dice are numbered 0 through 9, a 0 is treated as 10 Passive Checks: You may also choose to skip the die roll and assume you rolled a 5. This is known as a passive check, or 'taking 5.' Passive checks can be used at any time. Score: The whole-number portion of your skill score is added directly to the die roll. For example if your score was 8.6, you'd roll 1d10+8, yielding a value between 9 and 18. The sum of your die roll plus your score is referred to as your check result. Challenge: A value representing the inherent difficulty of the task. An average task that anybody can do will be 5 or less. A challenge number higher than 10 cannot be achieved without training or some kind of advantage. The sum of your check result minus the challenge number is known as your success score. Defense: Whenever you act against another creature, the Challenge number for that task will be one of that creature's passive skill checks. In this context, this value is known as a defense, thus your 'passive Guard' and your 'Guard defense' both refer to the same value. Adversarial tasks such as attacking, lying, or hiding will specify which skills can be used as defenses against them. When a task lists more than one skill as defense, use whichever is highest. Success: When success score from your check equals or exceeds the Success number of the task, you accomplish the task, having whatever effect(s) included in the task's description. Simple: Most tasks do not specify a Success number. These are known as simple tasks. They have a default Success number of zero. Simple tasks may still refer to your success score to determine their exact effects. Complex: A task that does specify a Success number is known as a complex task. Complex tasks accumulate success from multiple checks, even from multiple participants. When the total success equals or exceeds the Success number, the task is accomplished. A complex task may run the risk of being interrupted under certain circumstances which may reduce your success by some amount or even reset it to zero. Skill Scores and Upgrades Each of your skills has an associated skill score, which is is the sum of all decimal boosts that apply to that skill. All boosts and scores start at 0.0 and improve with level and upgrading. Spending at least one upgrade on a skill means you are considered trained in that skill, which grants a boost to that skill and any within it. You must be trained in a general or specific skill to attempt checks with it. You do not have to be trained in a skill to have a skill score or use it as a defense, and you can always attempt an attribute check untrained. Level: For each level you possess, you gain a cumulative 0.1 boost to all skills, including untrained skills. Thus a 5th-level character has a minimum score of 0.5 in any skill. Attribute: Each upgrade spent on an attribute grants a cumulative 0.2 boost to that skill and all of the general and specific skills within it. Your attribute score is thus the sum of your level boost plus your attribute boost, plus any temporary boosts to that skill. General: Each upgrade spent on a general skill grants a cumulative 0.3 boost to that skill and all of the specific skills within it. Your general skill score is thus your level boost plus your attribute boost, plus your general boost, plus any other boosts that may apply. Specific: Each upgrade spent on a specific skill grants a cumulative 0.4 boost to that skill alone. Your specific skill score is thus your level boost plus your attribute boost, plus your general boost, plus your specific boost, plus any other boosts to that skill. ''Note: You can max out a specific skill by upgrading it and both of its parents, for example Physical, Combat, and Melee. Doing so grants a total 1.0 boost (and costs 3 upgrades) per level.'' A boost from upgrades to a particular skill may be referred to by that skill's name. For example your 'Combat boost' is the total boost from upgrades to the Combat skill and does not include your level boost or your Physical boost. Other Boosts: Various other sources grant other named types of boost. A sword might grant an equipment boost to Melee, a defensive task might grant a situational boost to an ally's Guard, a special ability might grant a synergy boost to a particular skill, and so on. These boosts apply only to the named skill and not to any of its children, i.e. a situational boost to Physical does not alter any of your Combat scores. Unless otherwise specified, boosts of the same type are not cumulative. Boosts that do not have a specific named type are cumulative with each other, provided they come from different sources. Penalties (negative boosts) are always cumulative. Occasionally a boost will apply to a specific task rather than a skill. In those cases, you gain that boost when performing that task regardless of which skill you use for it. Tasks Almost anything your character can do in Hundredfold is represented by a task. Tasks are discrete effects a player can have on the world by spending actions and succeeding at one or more skill checks. On this wiki, each task will occupy a separate page formatted as described below. The Jog task is an excellent example. The page title contains the task's name (usually a verb) and category (Attack, Craft, Move, or simply Task). The first line specifies the number actions required to attempt it, followed by a list of skills that can be used. The second line of a task page is a brief, in-character description of the task's effect called '''flavor text'.'' Condition: A particular requirement that must be met to attempt the task, such as a tactical formation, a type of weapon, a special ability, or another task. Reserve tasks (those that use reserved actions) are usually contingent upon another creature's actions. If this entry is missing, the task can be performed any time you are conscious. Area: The shape and size of the area in which the task applies. Most tasks only affect a specific number of creatures within reach (see below). Target: Required. The creatures or objects the task can affect. A task that affects 'allies' cannot include yourself. Challenge: Required. The number (or defense) to beat with your skill check. If more than one value is listed, use whichever one is highest. Success: Complex tasks only; the total success score required to complete the task. If this entry is absent, the task is simple and its Success is 0. Interrupt: Complex tasks only; indicates what can reduce your success score and to what extent. 'Half' divides your accumulated success by 2. 'Zero' reverts it to 0. Other values such as '–10' are subtracted normally, to a minimum of 0. If this entry is absent, the task cannot be interrupted and may be left unfinished indefinitely. Effect: Required. The consequences of completing the task. The effect of a simple task often varies with your actual success score. Fail: Simple tasks only; a reduced or altered effect that occurs if the check fails. If this entry is missing, a failed check has no effect. Limit: Some tasks can only be performed a certain number of times per round, or have a finite number of uses that resets when you take a break or a full rest. If omitted, the task can be performed as many times as you have actions. Skill Points Some tasks draw on a dynamic limit known as a skill point pool (or simply skill points), which is an abstract measure of potential like vitality points. A skill pool is always equal to a passive general skill score (including the decimal), multiplied by 5, then rounded down. If you had an Arcana score of 9.3, then you would have 71 Arcana points. When you begin performing a task with an entry like "Limit: 5 Arcana points," you subtract 5 from your Arcana pool. In the case of complex tasks, the cost may be paid in whole or in part by any participant. All skill pools refill after a long rest. You do not have to be trained in a skill to have a skill pool, however most tasks that use skill points are difficult or impossible without training in the relevant skills. Category:Core Rules